Synergy Grid hikes dividend payout in Q2

MANILA, Philippines — Listed Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc. (SGP) has set a higher cash dividend totaling P1.37 billion in the second quarter.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, SGP said it approved its second quarterly cash dividend of P0.26 per share, P0.04 per share higher than the P0.22 per share dividend in the first quarter.

The cash dividends will be payable on July 22 to stockholders on record as of July 6.

In a statement, SGP chairman Henry Sy Jr. said the higher dividend in the second quarter “is a result of the recent investment of SGP in preferred shares issued by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) using the proceeds of the SGP follow-on offering (FOO) last November 2021.”

“The SEC approved the issuance of the preferred shares of NGCP early this month, which entitled SGP to direct dividends from NGCP on the preferred shares. This resulted in a higher dividend yield of 8.66 percent per annum at SGP level,” Sy said.

Last November, SGP conducted a follow on offering of 1.05 billion primary shares with an overallotment option of up to 101 million secondary shares at P12 apiece.

The offering was in compliance with NGCP’s franchise undertakings, which include the offer at least 20 percent of its outstanding capital stock through the completed share swap and FOO.

Meanwhile, SGP vice chairman Roberto Coyiuto said the distribution of dividends is a testament of the company’s commitment to its partner investors.

“We thank the investing public for their trust and confidence in SGP which contribute to the development of the nation’s sole transmission network operated and maintained by NGCP,” he said.

SGP indirectly controls 60 percent of the outstanding capital stock and owns an effective interest of 40.2 percent of the NGCP, its sole operating asset.

NGCP holds the 25-year concession contract to operate the country’s power transmission network.

It is 60 percent controlled by Filipino-owned entities One Taipan Holding Corp.’s Monte Oro Grid Resources led by Sy and Pacific21’s Calaca High Power Corp. led by Coyiuto. The remaining 40 percent is held by State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) as its technical partner.

In the next 13 years, NGCP is committed to invest approximately P440 billion across 211 projects which are aimed to support the growing electricity demand in the country and to make the country’s power backbone continuously reliable.